JEFFREY ARCHER

Source: Speak Up

Language Level: Intermediate

Standard: British Accent

Jeffey and Judas

Jeffrey Archer, 67, is a decidedly controversial figure. His life has consisted of a series of highs and lows in which he has built a business fortune, gone bankrupt, built another fortune writing best-sellers and served a prison sentence for perjury. A former Conservative Member of Parliament, he is a member of the House of Lords, having received the title Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare in 1992 and, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich Kist, he is worth an estimated £ 70 million (100 million).

As a writer, Archer’s credits include thrillers such as Not a Penny more, not a Penny Less, Kane and Abel and First Among Equal. His latest offering, written in collaboration with Irish theology professor Francis J. Maloney, is a little different. It’s called The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot. When Jeffrey Archer met with Speak Up, we asked him how his regular fans reacted to his latest book:

Jeffey Archer

Standard British Accent:

Well, they aren’t running to the shops to buy it in the way they do a normal book, except in Ireland, where it went straight to number three, and the Brazilians are going mad about it, but the normal places , it’s been very steady, very solid, but only reached number three.

LIFE BEHIND BARS

Jeffry Archer was released from prison in 2003, after having served half of a four-year sentence. We asked him whether the experience of prison had influenced his latest book:

Jeffrey Archer:

No, I don’t think the time in prison made any difference at all. I was writing prison diaries then, I was far more interested in observing prison from the inside and writing what I saw in front of me, so no, I could say to you it didn’t affect me either way.

But we were curious to know whether prison had changed his own view life:

Jeffrey Archer:

Only in the sense that I’m aware what a privileged life I’ve had and continue to have and how many people who have no parental upbringing, no opportunity, are immediately disadvantaged. In that sense, yes.

THE MAGIC FORMULA

And yet, in spite of the disasters in his life, Archer has enjoyed immense success as a writer. In conclusion we asked him what was the secret:

Jeffrey Archer:

Hard work, energy, you need a bit of luck, in the sense that being able to write a tale, being able to write a story, being able to write a yarn, is a God-given gift. I mean, otherwise everybody would be doing it; so is playing the violin, so is painting a picture. So that side…but you’ve still then got to have the energy and determination and application to actually do it. I always say to young people: “Energy plus talent, you’re a king; energy and no talent; you’re a prince; talent and no energy, you’re a pauper.”

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